Ola invests USD 100 million in Matrix-backed Vogo
Bengaluru, December 18, 2018: Vogo, India's fastest growing scooter sharing network, for short haul commute, today announced its strategic partnership with Ola, one of the world's largest ride-hailing platforms. As part of this partnership, Ola will boost Vogo's supply by investing in 100,000 scooters on the Vogo platform, worth $100Mn. This infusion will give Vogo a strategic supply advantage without having to incur significant capital expenditure.Additionally, Vogo's offerings will also be available for Ola's 150mn+ customer base, directly from the Ola app soon. Ola had also invested in Vogo as part of the company's Series A fundraising which saw participation from Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners.
Vogo is a point-to-point dockless scooter sharing company, currently present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, having served over 20 million kilometers on its platform.Every Vogo scooter comes with an IOT device that allows the customer to access the key via OTP; this eliminates the need for human intervention and offers consumers a seamless experience. Scooter sharing addresses the twin challenges of pollution and congestion, while also providing a credible alternative to bridge India's micro mobility needs.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Olasaid "Ola is committed to building a robust mobility ecosystem in India, creating a deep impact on livelihoods and how citizens get around. Our investment in Vogo will help build a smart multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity in the country. Vogo's automated scooter-sharing platform, backed by Ola's expertise in this space can help transform our cities. Together, we are thrilled to be at the forefront of India's rapidly growing micro-mobility market.'
Anand Ayyadurai, Founder and CEO, Vogo said, "Vogo has seen rapid growth in the last 5 months, growing over 10x in scale. We are thrilled to have Ola join us on this journey and help turbocharge our growth by providing us access to strategic and capital efficient supply as well as access to millions of customers on its platform in the time to come. Ola's deep understanding of mobility and their investment to power additional supply are extremely valuable to Vogo. As we enter into our next phase of growth, we look forward to executing our synergistic vision of the future: smart and sustainable mobility for all.' He further added, "India presents a unique, untapped opportunity for scooter-sharing. With the backing of right partners, innovative solutions and nuanced market understanding, we are well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity and create value for all.'
Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners, said,"Vogo addresses a key gap in the transportation market '“ last mile commutes '“ with a low-cost, tech-enabled solution. There is a huge supply-demand mismatch in the market that this partnership between Vogo and Ola will address. With Ola's support, we expect Vogo to rapidly expand their fleet to meet the burgeoning demand. Stellaris is proud to back Anand, Paddy and Sanchit as they continue their strong execution of the business.'
Tarun Davda, Managing Director, Matrix India, said,"We are excited by the progress that the Vogo team has made over the past 6 months and the numerous use cases emerging from the current Vogo fleet. As an early investor in both Ola and Vogo, we are happy to see the further deepening of the strategic partnership and believe it will accelerate the shared vision for a multi-modal future. Micro mobility at scale requires significant network density and the rapid expansion of the Vogo fleet will enable just that. We are privileged to be in business with the Vogo team and look forward to continue supporting them on their journey to transform urban commute in a convenient and cost-effective way.'
About Vogo:
Vogo is India's fastest growing scooter sharing company that provides consumers a platform to rent scooters for short commutes. Vogo scooters are present in 200+ designated points across Bangalore and Hyderabad. All scooters come custom fitted with a proprietary IOT hardware that allows consumers to access the key through a simple OTP based system and start riding. Vogo is the fastest commute option available in India, coming at the cost of a fraction of other alternatives. Using the Vogo mobile app, over 100,000+ users have commuted for over 20 million kilometres.
About Ola:
Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola is one of the world's largest ride-hailing companies. Ola integrates city transportation for customers and drivers onto a mobile technology platform ensuring convenient, transparent, safe and quick service fulfilment. Ola is focused on leveraging the best of technology and building innovative solutions ground-up, that are relevant at global scale. Notably, in 2016, Ola Play the world's first connected car platform for ride-sharing was launched, transforming commuting experiences and setting the tone for global innovation in this space. Using the Ola mobile app, users across 125+ cities, can connect with over a million drivers across a diverse range of vehicles. Driven by a hyperlocal approach, Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people.
About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with INR 4,500 crores under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading companies such as Ola (local transportation), Quikr (online classifieds), Practo (digital health platform), Dailyhunt (mobile local languageplatform), Treebo (digital hotel chain), Limeroad (social e-commerce platform), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace) andBelong (recruitment platform) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in
